Beware being 'booked'!

Long aware of the need that some have to ‘box’ or ‘label’ those around them it would appear that there is seemingly no end to the various ways in which we categorise and inevitably divide one another.

Politics, faith, music, films, hobbies, the cars we drive, the clothes we wear are all ways in which we try to 'understand' and define each other.

Perhaps this frustrating ‘cultural convention’ is why I have an aversion to being so easily pigeon-holed. As a perceived ‘non-conformist’ (there’s a label!) I generally (and this will obviously come as no surprise to those with even a casual knowledge of the blogger!) prefer to mix it up, keep people guessing, buck their simplistic attempts to stereotype and consequently limit. But yesterday I was made aware of a new danger – being ‘booked’.

As a new friend was perusing our book shelves he noticed ‘The Downing Street Years’ Margaret Thatcher’s autobiography. For fear of being unfairly ‘booked’ and ‘boxed’ and wishing to avoid the political associations inferred by Maggie’s presence I was quick to point out that I no more subscribed to Thatcherism than I did to the views of Chairman Mao, or Adolf Hitler (some of Maggie’s neighbours on the self). As someone from the ‘left-hand side’ (labels come so easily!) of the political spectrum he appreciated the link between the three!

As well as not judging a book by it’s cover, perhaps we shouldn’t judge each other by our books.